Dominique Perrault's Groundscape: From BnF to Giacometti Museum

Architect Dominique Perrault's concept of "Groundscape"—architecture buried beneath the city surface—is explored in a new monograph published by Gallimard. The book, authored by Nina Léger, Éric de Chassey, and Barry Bergdoll, traces Perrault's career from his first major project, the Bibliothèque nationale de France (BnF, completed 1995), to recent works. Perrault, a Praemium Imperiale laureate, defines Groundscape as "the last space to conquer for our cities," offering resilience, aesthetics, and sustainability. Key projects include the Berlin velodrome and Olympic swimming pool (1992–1999), exemplifying "incrustation" (embedding); the Ewha Womans University in Seoul (2004–2008), a "furrow" type; the Villejuif-Gustave Roussy metro station (2025), a "well" type named "most beautiful station in the world" by the Prix Versailles; and the future Lightwalk intermodal hub in Gangnam, Seoul (2030), using an optical instrument to channel natural light. Perrault also applied Groundscape to heritage sites: the Pavillon Dufour at the Château de Versailles (2016) and the future Fondation Giacometti museum in the former Invalides air terminal (2030). The monograph costs €59 and includes 2,000 illustrations.